2002 Colorado School of Mines Football
(6-4 Overall, 3-4 RMAC)
Week #11 Notes - at Western State (5-5 Overall, 4-3 RMAC)

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THE HEAD COACHES: Bob Stitt (Doane College ‘86) is in his third season at the helm of the Oredigger football program. He claims an overall record of 15-16, including a 8-15 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. A year ago, Stitt coached CSM to a 7-4 mark, which marked the most wins for a football team at Mines since 1958 and the first winning season in Golden since 1991. Western State is led by second-year Head Coach Jeff Zenisek, who claims a career record of 43-25-1, including a mark of 11-10 in Gunnison.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Western State leads the all-time series with Mines, 46-27-3. The Orediggers last defeated WSC, 48-47, during the 1990 season.

THE FINALE: Saturday’s game at Western State will mark the 2002 season finale for CSM. Mines is 1-1 in season finales under Bob Stitt, including a 62-28 victory over Western New Mexico in the final game of the 2001 season.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE: Senior wide receiver/kick returner Brian Sump recorded his sixth career touchdown off a return with a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown in the victory over South Dakota Tech. He now has five career kickoff returns for touchdowns and one career touchdown off a punt return. Last season, Sump set an NCAA Division II record as he returned four kickoffs for touchdowns, including one against Adams State.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE PART DEUX: Sophomore wide receiver/return specialist Jonny Chan has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season. On Oct. 12, Chan took one 100 yards in a loss at Nebraska-Keraney. Two weeks later, he opened the game with a 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

LAST TIME OUT (11/9/02): Colorado School of Mines sophomore running back Craig Van Horn accounted for four touchdowns to help lead the Orediggers to a 29-18 victory at Adams State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon. Mines jumped out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter as Van Horn scored two rushing touchdowns (23 and 18 yards) and also threw a 5 yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Derek Lis. Adams State managed to cut its deficit to 21-9 at the half as Ryan Shiba kicked a 43-yard and Bobby Solano added a 23 yard scoring run in the second quarter. Solano added a 9 yard touchdown run with 11:22 remaining in the third to slice the CSM lead to 21-16. Mines tacked on a 20 yard scoring pass to Van Horn from senior quarterback Nate Jackson (Lakeside, Ariz./Lakeside) with 5:20 left in the game and ASC added a late safety on a snap out of the end zone to conclude the scoring. Van Horn finished with 17 carries for 109 yards and two scores and also caught two passes for 26 yards and a score. Senior wide receiver Brian Sump hauled in three balls for 55 yards and also recorded 82 yards on three total returns. Sophomore strong safety Daniel Leger, posted a game-high 16 stops, including four for losses.

LAST TIME VS. WESTERN (11/3/01): Western State scored 34 unanswered second half points to turn a 10-6 halftime deficit into a 40-17 victory over Mines at Brooks Field. Mines claimed a 10-0 lead after one quarter as Josh Hodsdon kicked a 19-yard field goal and Nate Jackson added a one yard scoring run. However, the Mountaineers would go on to score the next 40 points in claiming the win. Jackson completed 22-of-46 passes for 313 yards, while Brian Sump caught six passes for 118 yards.

LONG AND LONGER: The Orediggers executed the two longest plays in school history in the 49-7 victory over South Dakota Tech on September 7. Senior quarterback Nate Jackson tied an NCAA record when he connected with sophomore Jonny Chan for a 99-yard touchdown pass. Not to be outdone, backup sophomore quarterback Chad Friehauf threw a 97-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Andrew Schmid later on during the game.

THANK YOU, VERY MUCH: The Oredigger defense has come up with at least one interception in each of the first ten games this season, including a season-high four in Saturday’s victory at Adams State. As a team, Mines ranks first in the conference with 16 interceptions.

BACK TO BACK: Saturday’s 29-18 victory at Adams State assured the Orediggers of back to back winning seasons for the first time since the 1975-76 seasons.

13 OVER 2: In addition to clinching back to back winning seasons, the CSM football program accomplished another outstanding feat with its victory in Alamosa, Colo. on Saturday afternoon. With six wins this season, CSM has now won 13 games over the last two seasons. That feat had only been accomplished one time in the history of the program (1912-13). A win at Western State on Saturday will give the Orediggers 14 wins over the last two seasons, a feat that has never been accomplished in the history of the program.

RULE OF TWO: The number two seems to be the lucky number for the Oredigger football team over the last 13 games. In the last 13 games, Mines has had at least one player record two touchdowns in a game. During those contests, Colorado Mines has posted an 8-5 record.

RECORD SETTER: With his three TD receptions at Western New Mexico, senior wide receiver Brian Sump broke the school record for career touchdown receptions and now has 24 for his career. In addition, Sump is just 3 catches shy of breaking the CSM record for career receptions (145). In all, Sump claims 21 game, season and career records as an Oredigger.

JUST IN CASE: True freshman wide receiver Justin Gallas has been prepared to step in in case one of the starting wide receivers went down this season. Such was the instance against New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 26 when Gallas started in place of an injured Oredigger receiver and responded with career-highs in receptions (10) and receiving yards (133). He also caught his first career collegiate touchdown, a 33 yarder.

STICK A FORK IN IT: In CSM’s Oct. 19 game at Fort Lewis, the two teams combined for 13 fumbles. Mines fumbled the ball six times and lost two, while the Skyhawks committed seven fumbles and lost four. CSM also threw one interception, while FLC quarterbacks threw two interceptions as Mines forced six turnovers in the game.

FOURTH QUARTER DOMINANCE: Colorado Mines has outscored its opponents, 102-40, in the final quarters of games this season. In fact, Mines has blanked four of its opponents in the final stanza, while holding three others to seven points each. On Oct. 26, Mines limited New Mexico Highlands to just four first downs and 98 total yards in the second half.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP HERE: Sophomore strong safety Daniel Leger was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after posting 16 tackles, including four for losses, in the Oredigger’s victory at Adams State on Saturday. Leger currently leads the conference with 105 tackles, an average of 10.5 stops per game. In addition, he has registered 12 tackles for losses, eight pass breakups, four sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

FOR ALL-PURPOSES: Colorado Mines claims two of the top all-purpose yardage players in the conference and all of Division II. Sophomore Jonny Chan leads Mines with 1,108 all-purpose yards in nine games this season, an average of 123.1 ypg. Meanwhile, senior Brian Sump has totaled 1,074 all-purpose yards this season and leads the squad with 134.3 yards per game. Sump is ranked second in the conference, while Chan ranked fourth in all-purpose yards in the RMAC.

“THE VAN”: In Pittsburgh, the Steelers have Jerome Bettis, also known as “The Bus”, to run through defenses. In Golden, the Orediggers may have found their version of the bus in sophomore running back Craig Van Horn, who leads the team in rushing with 630 yards on 92 carries for an average of 6.8 yards per run and five touchdowns. In addition, he has also caught 30 passes for 296 yards and three scores. After running for 107 yards in the season opener, Van Horn was held in check for much of the next five games, gaining just 115 yards in those five contests. However, he ran for 110 yards and a score at Fort Lewis three weeks ago and just missed 100 yard games the next two weeks, running for 99 yards and two scores on 16 carries two weeks ago and gaining 90 yards on 11 carries in the loss to Mesa State on Saturday. In Saturday’s win at Adams State, Van Horn has one of his best performances of his career. In the first quarter, he ran for two scores (23 and 18 yards) and threw a five yard touchdown pass. In addition, he caught a 20 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He finished with 17 carries for 109 yards and two scores, two receptions for 26 yards and a score and was 1-for-1 in passing for five yards and a touchdown.

DON’T “PICK” ON HIM: Sophomore cornerback Grant Newton has produced a tremendous season for the Orediggers. Newton leads the RMAC in interceptions with eight and has also broken up a league best 20 passes this season. In Saturday’s win at Adams State, Newton picked off three passes to set a CSM single season record for interceptions with eight.

SCOUTING WESTERN STATE: The Mountaineers enter the week at 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the RMAC following a 34-7 victory against Fort Hays State on Saturday. Nate Campbell led the way for WSC as he rushed 17 times for 204 yards and two scores (12 and 60 yards). For the season, Campbell is ranked second in the RMAC in rushing with 100.9 yards per game. He has gained 1,009 yards and scored five touchdowns on 207 carries. Quarterback Nate Baca has completed 63-of-145 passes for 1,018 yards and nine scores, while Pat Walker has caught 20 passes for 506 yards and five touchdowns this season. The defense is led by Mike Swaro who has recorded a team-high 86 tackles. As a team, Western State is ranked seventh in the conference in total offense and fourth in the RMAC in total defense.

SILVER AND BLUE LUNCHEON: Every Wednesday throughout the season, the Colorado Mines athletics department will host a Silver and Blue Luncheon in the Ben Parker Student Center. The lunch, which begins at 11:30 am, features speeches by all of the in-season coaches. For more information, call 303-384-2254.

ON THE WEB: Be sure to follow all the latest news, game recpas, stats and updates of all the Oredigger athletic teams on the web at athletics.mines.edu